Mr Punch turns 350

Celebrating 350 years of sadist puppet Mr Punch, we have put together our very own Punch and Judy show (above) especially for Completely Londoners.

Lesley Butler, aka Professor Baguette, is both a Punch and Judy professor (the voice behind the quarrelsome duo) and the proprietor of Clapham’s Puppet Planet. Take a look at her in action alongside Mr Punch himself…

So, why are Punch and Judy so enduringly popular? ‘The British sense of humour is very satirical,’ Lesley tells us. ‘We’ve become very good at laughing at ourselves and lampooning our politicians. Punch and Judy lends itself to that precisely because of its history. It was only in Victorian times that it became more geared towards children.’